UNC-A STUDENT DONATES BASKETBALL SIGNED BY SHAQ AND DWAYNE to the FREEDOM BALL

UNC-A STUDENT DONATES BASKETBALL SIGNED BY SHAQ AND DWAYNE to the FREEDOM BALL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 28, 2011

CONTACT: Alex Holsten (910) 471-0822

Asheville — Alex Holsten’s parents paid hundreds of dollars to give him a basketball signed by Shaquille O’Neal and Dwayne Wade, but Holsten could not be dissuaded by NC death row exoneree Glen Edward Chapman — the UNC-A student insisted on donating the basketball to the Freedom Ball, a fundraiser for Chapman, which takes place this Thursday, March 31, at the Grey Eagle Music Hall from 7 till midnight, featuring a fabulous musical lineup: David LaMotte; Skinny Legs & All, The Krektones and Kinjah, as well as a silent auction where the basketball and other donated items will go to the highest bidder.

Holsten and Chapman became friends after the college senior started donating his time to death penalty repeal and reform efforts. Holsten was inspired to write his senior thesis on the historic NC Racial Justice Act, which serves to eliminate racial bias from the state’s capital punishment system.

Chapman celebrates his third year of freedom this year. He was released on April 2, 2008, after spending more than thirteen years on North Carolina’s death row for crimes he did not commit. Hickory police detectives hid evidence of Chapman’s innocence. Chapman’s lawyers did not bother to investigate multiple reports by people who saw the other victim the day after the prosecution claimed she was murdered by Edward, The fact that that “victim” was not murdered after all provided another ground for reversing Chapman’s conviction.

It was only when local attorney Frank Goldsmith and mitigation specialist Dr. Pam Laughon, chair of the Psychology Department at UNC-Asheville, started working on Edward’s case more than a decade later, that the truth began to be revealed. Even then, it took years to achieve justice and secure Chapman’s freedom. His son had grown up and his own mother as well as his son’s mother had died while Chapman was wrongly imprisoned.

All proceeds ($10 student; $15 general and $25 patron tickets are available online at http://braveulysses.com/tickets or at the door) go to Edward Chapman.